Resilient valved diaphragm for comminuted material dispenser



March 22, 1966 F. R. CHESTER 3,241,726

RESILIENT VALVED DIAPHRAGM FOR COMMINUTED MATERIAL DISPENSER Filed June 8, 1964 .HI- I VIII l/l/J/ INVENTOR. FRANK R. CHESTER United States Patent 3,241,726 RESILIENT VALVED DIAPHRAGM FOR COM- MINUTED MATERIAL DISPENSER Frank R. Chester, Carlsbad, Calif. (245-26 W. Bobier Drive, Vista, Calif.) Filed June 8, 1964, Ser. No. 373,214 1 Claim. (Cl. 222-211) The present invention relates generally to valved diaphragms and more particularly to such a diaphragm for use in a collapsible container for dispensing fluent materials.

Powdered insecticide is at present dispensed from containers in which the outlet thereof is provided with a plate having a plurality of small apertures therein. Internal pressure applied to the powder in the container forces it through these apertures in the form of a dust. This necessitates the use of very small apertures and these apertures frequently become clogged with lumps or large granules which occur in the powdered insecticide, thus rendering the dispenser difficult if not impossible to use.

It is, therefore, the primary object of this invention to provide an improved insecticide dispenser which will be unaffected by the presence of small lumps or large granules in the powder.

Another very important object, ancillary to the preceding object, is to make very fine classification and screening of the powder unnecessary since the occurrence of occasional larger granules will not plug the improved valved outlet, and obviation of the requirement for fine screening is reflected in considerable reduction in cost of processing the powder.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved valved diaphragm for use in a dispenser for commin-uted materials.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide an improved valve diaphragm for a powder insecticide dispenser that will be self-sealing to prevent significant entry of air into said dispenser prior to use.

Finally it is an object to provide a valved diaphragm for a comminuted material dispenser of the aforementioned character which is simple and convenient to use and which will give generally eflicient and durable service.

With these and other objects definitely in view, this invention consists in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of elements and portions, as will be hereinafter fully described in the specification; particularly pointed out in the claims, and illustrated in the drawing which forms a material part of this disclosure, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of one form of the novel valved diaphragm assembly in position on a collapsible container;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the diaphragm assembly shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a cross section of the diaphragm assembly mounted on the dispensing tube;

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FIGURE 2 showing a modification; and

FIGURE 5 is a view showing the operation of the novel diaphragm.

The dominant feature of this invention is the diaphragm and diaphragm assembly, hereinafter identified by the numerals 11, 28 and 444648, but it is necessary for a compelte understanding of the invention to describe the environment wherewith it is used. Therefore, with part-icular reference to FIGURE 1 I have illustrated the novel dispensing assembly indicated generally by the reference numeral in FIGURE 3, mounted in a conventional collapsible container 12. As is the usual practice, this container 12 is formed of thin sheet deformable material which will normally retain the shape to which it has been plastic.

originally formed but may be deformed by the application of pressure to the sides thereof for creating a pressure within the container to eject material therefrom. An aperture, not shown, is provided in the top 14 of the container and the member 10 is inserted through this aperture with the shoulder 18 of head member 16, which in cludes diaphragm assembly 11, resting on and secured to the top 14.

Head member 16 is provided with a central bore 20 having a cone shaped mouth 22 on the outer end thereof. Cone shaped mouth 22 terminates in a radial shoulder 24 from which extends an axial flange 26 which encloses my novel flexible diaphragm 28. In this form of the invention diaphragm assembly 11 includes a diaphragm 28 which rests against the shoulder 24 and is held in place by any suitable means such as the securing ring 30. The other end of head member 16 is provided with an axial flange 32 in which is secured a hollow sleeve 34 forming an extension of bore 20. A plug 36 closes the lower end of sleeve 34 which is also provided with access holes 38 and 40 for the admission of powder under pressure from the container.

Diaphragm 28 is formed as a disc-like member from thin flexible form sustaining material such as rubber or A series of slits 42 extend through the diaphragm and radiate from a common point at approximately the center of the diaphragm as clearly shown. These slits 42 form separated portions of the diaphragm which open as pressure is increased in the container and return to their normal closed position when pressure is released. This action is clearly illustrated in FIGURE 5. The number of slits may be varied and is dependent to a certain extent on the thickness of the diaphragm. With a relatively thin diaphragm a single slit will be sufficient, distortion of the diaphragm permitting emission of the dust. In the preferred form the slits are arranged generally radially either three in number as shown in FIGURE 2, or six as shown in FIGURE 4. It is obvious that these slits 42 may be non-rectilinear and not necessarily truly radial as shown.

A slightly different form of diaphragm assembly is shown in FIGURES 4 and 5. As here shown the diaphragm 44 is formed as a thin flexible member with slits 45 similar to those shown in FIGURE 1, while the peripheral edge has an integral thickened portion 46 from which depends an axial retaining flange 48 secured in any suitable way, as by the inturned lip 50, to head member 52, which is similar to head member 16. Reference numeral 54 denotes a removable closure member which may, if desired, be adhesively applied to portion 46 during shipment.

The operation of my improved valved diaphragm will be obvious from the foregoing description. The slits in the diaphragm member provide resilient flaps which will be forced outwardly, as shown by the arrows 56, upon application of pressure to the interior of container 12. Comminuted material will be carried up the sleeve 34 as indicated by arrow 58 and ejected in the form of a dust through the diaphragm 28 or 44. It will be evident that this diaphragm will yield sufficiently to permit the emission of larger granules and any lumps that may be present-in the powder while still normally controlling the dusting operation as desired.

While I have shown my improved diaphragm assembly used on a collapsible container, it is obvious that it will have utility in any form of dusting apparatus wherein air pressure is utilized to carry comminuted material through a dispensing head.

It is understood that minor variation from the form of the invention disclosed herein may be made without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and that the specification and drawing are to be considered as merely illustrative rather than limiting.

I claim:

A comminuted material dispenser comprising:

a collapsible container having an aperture therein; said container being formed of thin deformable material normally retaining the shape to which it has been originally formed but which may be deformed by application of pressure to the sides thereof for creating a temporarily increased air pressure within the container;

a tubular head member mounted in said aperture;

hollow tube extending from said head member into said container; and

resilient diaphragm member, including a plurality of intersecting slits, normally closing the end of said tubular head member, said slits and head member permitting air to move in both directions, out of and into said container during operation, and said diaphragm member adjacent said slits being easily deformed by air and comminuted material escaping therethrough due to said increased pressure, the slitseparated portions of the diaphragm functioning as resilient flaps to disintegrate the comminuted material and being capable of being further deformed as necessary to pass larger granules and lumps in said comminuted material, whereby costly fine screening of said comminuted material is made unnecessary.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS LOUIS I. DEMBO, Primary Examiner.

CHARLES R. CARTER, Examiner. 

